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Looking for Sustainability ideas

I thought I find a way to keep costs down while still trying to stay eco-friendly. Trying to keep striving for sustainability. This a record of that journey.Sometimes blunt and straight forward then sometimes sarcastic

This frugal crunchy hipster single momma is doing what she can to save Mother Earth while not breaking the bank!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Vampires in my home!!

Shriek!! There are vampires in our homes! Yes it true, Most home have more than one! Spooky vampires waiting to .... ..... .... drink your ..... energy! 30% of all energy use is for the vampires in our home. In the United States alone that is lost is around 4 billion dollars a year to these monsters. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Stand By power table shows the biggest offenders. It's called vampire energy loss.So wooden stakes and holly water will not work on these vampires. But surge protectors, unplugging the item and the energy star will!! Unplug that TV in the spare bedroom, the DVD player if you don't use it very often, and unplug the cell phone, camcorder, or camera chargers; for they are still using energy even after being turned off.

Plasma TV a big Count Dracula vampire will cost if it was in stand-by mode only $160 a year. Computers $34. VCR $10 might not seems like much but it will start adding up!

Ok granted something does eat some energy when turned off but can cause problems when you plug it back in, so that is the time (when replacing them) you look for a Energy Star Product. The computer might not be a good item to unplug but the monitor and speaker system are the bigger robber of energy on stand-by. So these items can be on one surge protector to turn off after use.

If you have some young ones that would like to help with the hunt of the vampires check out Energy Hogs.Org site they have a great check list to help you hunt out the vampires lurking around..... and help to keep them from sucking you dry!!!!!!!!!!!